One of the best things about the Olive Garden is their never-ending salad bowl. They sell the house dressing right there at the restaurant, but I thought it would be easier (and more frugal) to try and duplicate the Olive Garden salad dressing at home. A quick internet search turned up dozens of recipes, most of which were exactly like the one above.

What’s nice about the Olive Garden salad dressing recipe is that the ingredients are readily available. In fact, you may already have them in your refrigerator/pantry. Toss with fresh tomatoes, Vidalia onions, black olives, croutons, pickled pepperoncini and freshly grated Parmesan cheese to give you a true Olive Garden restaurant experience.

Comments

fyi… Olive Garden does not use Mayonaise in their salad dressing. I have a severe allergy to mayonaise, and can eat the Olive Garden dressing… even double checked ingredients on their jar… although I had checked this years ago when I first started eating their dressing. So, sorry, this recipe may taste like the OG dressing…. which I do not know, but it certainly is not their recipe.

I have tried to share this recipe using share beside the email button. But every time I do so it redirects me to a page saying the page I’m going to has been changed or moved. Can anyone help me figure out why it’s doing this? I would love to be able to email this to my mother & Mamaw.

This was the worst copycat recipe,it didn’t even look like olive garden dressing!! I should have suspected when there was mayonnaise and only a tsp of oil.I added some sugar As well and only then could I eat it!

I tried this. It did not taste or look like Olive Garden dressing to me. Olive Garden dressing is colorless. This looked like milk. It did not taste bad. Just not what I was expecting. Not Olive Garden.

Actually their dressing isn’t colorless. You can see this very clearly when you buy a bottle of the dressing. I think we may have the impression the dressing is clear because other “Italian” dressing is clear. The dressing really has a milky color.

i think KRAFT Tuscan House Italian Dressing is so close in taste i use it all the time………….. mayonaise ,,,emulsion of oil, egg yolk and either vinegar or lemon juice, so what is your severe allergy to Ruth Ann

I was going to say the same thing as Ruth. The original dressing that I remember didn’t have mayo, it had olive oil, along with vinegar, Parmesan, Italian spices, and garlic. They must have changed it since the last time I visited (which is entirely possible because I gave up on the poor food quality/service at our local restaurants).

I rarely post but i made this recipe while it did not look like og dressing it did the job and tastes well. What kills me is folks try a copy cat recipe and instantly become offended when they do not have their desire result. Bottom line if you are unhappy with your results then move on or buy the “real” thing. good damn grief

yummy!!! been craving og salad for awhile now, found this on pinterst, drug my daughter to the grocery store to get the things that i was missing & came home to make it. SUCCESS!!! it definitely hit the spot for this pregnant woman!!

I made this recipe tonight. It was yummy but I also deviated from the recipe. I added a little extra Mayo and mixed cider & white vinegar. Also used EVOO, extra Italian seasoning, garlic powder and onion powder. I also didn’t want to use corn syrup so I used Splenda a small amount at a time and tested it as I added! I have bought OG’s dressing before and it is a creamy yellowish color. I would definately make it again! Thanks for sharing the recipe!

I made this and it was awful. Not sure what I did wrong. It was as thin as water. Tasted like pure vinegar. Just seemed like too much vinegar. There were a lot of good comments, so I surprised at my results. I tried mixing it longer, refrig overnight thought it might thicken it up, but no luck. Any suggestions?

The salad is bagged salad that you can buy at any grocery store. It’s the iceberg, shredded carrot with a wee bit of purple cabbage bagged salad mix. It’ll keep for a couple days after you open the bag, but after than you’ll need to put it in a bowl with some type of drainage (like a lettuce spinner) and put a damp paper towel over the top and seal the container. This will keep it a few days longer with good results. The idea is that the lettuce needs to be in a damp (not wet) environment and have any excess liquid wicked away (the bowl of lettuce spinner).

Toss a few pepperoncini’s, sliced red onion, croutons, and black olives and tomatoes and we’ve got us an OG salad ready for the above dressing. YUM and somewhere on the ‘net I saw a copycat recipe for the breadsticks. Double YUM!!

Hi! The only good thing about Olive Garden’s salads? The dressing. Iceberg lettuce is awful, and there are few onions, tomatoes, or olives on it. Still, I love the dressing and found it at Sam’s. A little over 6 bucks for 2 large bottles of it. Do you think the homemade version tastes as good???

Is this exactly like the Olive Garden salad dressing? I have no idea. Do I care? Not at all!! Made this tonight and had with the recommended combination of lettuce, onion, croutons, black olives and peppers. Was just a really amazing salad. I didn’t have corn syrup so I used 1 tbsp agave. This was so good. I’m making this again, absolutely!!

My sister,Shirley & I would go to olive garden to have lunch and always loved their salad dressing and I’m definitely trying this. she also taught me how to crisp up iceberg lettuce by removing the core and running under cold tap water for a minute or two , turn it and let the water drain out. Once drained put in a large zip lock bag with a paper towel to absorb extra moisture. It works very well.

Readers: Don’t pay too much attention to the reviews about OG NOT using Mayo in their dressing, true – SORT OF. The ingredients in the OG recipe start with oil, egg (yolk) salt, vinegar – MAYO INGREDIENTS!!! The copycat recipe here just shortcuts it by starting with mayo as opposed to using mayo ingredients. But, TRUE cooks already know this, right? 😀

[…] I’m a big fan of Olive Garden. I think my Nana is the only person I know who does not love it. Other than her, I don’t think I would trust someone who doesn’t like it! I could eat there every week, even if I just did the unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks. Now through Pinterest, I can pull off the hat trick and make all three at home! See previous blogs for the Olive Garden breadsticks and their Zuppa Toscana recipe. Now for the salad: 1/2 C. mayonnaise 1/3 C. white vinegar 1 tsp. vegetable oil 2 Tbsp. corn syrup 2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese 2 Tbsp. Romano cheese 1/4 tsp. garlic salt 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning 1/2 tsp. parsley flakes 1 Tbsp. lemon juice I apparently do not keep a fully stocked kitchen. I didn’t have any Romano cheese, so I replaced it with more Parmesean cheese and I left out the lemon juice. The salad dressing was amazing. It came out white, which made me a little nervous at first, but it tastes amazing. I went through the first batch within a week and am about to make my second one. I meant to pick up my missing ingredients, but even though I work in a grocery store, I failed to do so. It’s great though because it tastes great the way I made it, missing ingredients and all! I hope yours turns out fantastic as well and hope you’ll all check out my previous blogs so you can do your own Olive Garden night. Original pin can be found at http://www.mommysavers.com/olive-garden-salad-dressing-copycat-recipe/ […]